


The Universe Works Hard

by gummyrubi



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! GX
Genre: Ace judai strikes again, College AU, Fluff, Gen, M/M, Missed Chances, in a fun way, johan's a stress baker, judai's real unlucky, meet cute, spiritshipping, the universe may or may not want them together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-03
Updated: 2018-02-03
Packaged: 2019-03-13 00:38:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13558986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gummyrubi/pseuds/gummyrubi
Summary: Judai didn't think that by missing his opportunity after his meet-cute with Johan, the universe would punish him by keeping him away from Johan for the rest of the semester.





	The Universe Works Hard

Judai found himself rushing across campus in the rain holding his textbooks close to his chest. He thought he could make it to his next class before the rain and didn’t put his textbooks in his backpack and now here he was holding several hundred-dollar textbooks (it was only the second semester; he could already see the staggering debt in his future) hoping they wouldn’t get too damaged. He would’ve just put them in his backpack but it was too late now, he made his decision so he stuck by it.

College was rough.

He had his hood up at least, in an effort to spare him from the chilly onslaught of the water pouring from the heavens. His shoes were soaked through and his pants weren’t fairing much better but he had very little options here. He could only hope he wouldn’t catch a cold later, his bangs weren’t saved from the water and were plastered to his forehead, water streaming down his face. He didn’t even have an umbrella with him because the skies had been clear three hours ago when he got here for his first class.

He saw other people as he ran, some in shorts and flip flops just strolling through campus in the rain, some holding umbrellas and walking quickly to class, some just running in a similar state as he was.

Judai could hear the splashes his footsteps made with every puddle he came into contact with and a tiny part of him wanted to stop and play with the water but the other part of him told him his next class took attendance and he already used up his allotted absences for the semester despite it being the third week in, so he needed to get to class.

He reached his building at last, the oldest building on campus that honestly looked like it would fall apart at the slightest breeze and constantly had rumors about it being remodeled but those rumors had been around for _years_ —and the inside of the building always smelled funny—and he yanked open the door, running inside, quickly feeling the toasty air saving him from the cold only to immediately run right into someone and send them both to the ground. They drew a little attention from some of the student stragglers in the lobby of the building but otherwise no one made a move towards them. College students were so desensitized to the world around them.

“Oh my god I’m so sorry!” Judai quickly apologized, gathering his stuff off the ground and starting to help pick up the other’s things. Amongst them were a couple books and a closed umbrella. At least someone had been prepared.

The other person laughed, a gentle, soft laugh that drew Judai’s attention towards them. “Don’t worry about it. I’d be running too if I were outside in this rain. You alright?”

Judai looked up at the person, a cute guy about his age with a bright smile, bright blue hair that spiked out, and the greenest eyes he’d ever seen. He wore dark jeans, a large white fuzzy sweater that looked super warm and reached his mid-thighs, the collar large and partially revealing a shoulder, a lavender scarf wrapped around his neck and a pair of brown boots that surely were a better idea than Judai’s sneakers. Judai took one look at him, at that sunny smile directed at him, as he helped pick up his things, and Judai felt his heart skip a beat. He stared at him for another moment and promptly dropped his textbooks again.

He’d be lucky if they survived till midterms at the rate he was going.

The guy blinked, a little worried. “Are you ok?”

Judai nodded, suddenly at a loss for words as he picked up his books again. Then he remembered he was running because he was late for his next class which started in less than a minute now. “I-I… I’m sorry I hope you’re ok, bye!” And he ran off, leaving the other guy to pick up his papers that had scattered out of a folder he was carrying.

Judai managed to rush into his class just as it started, so he made it in time to fill out the attendance sheet that got passed around that somehow always started with him. Next semester he was going to find professors who didn’t take attendance and avoid them at all costs.

He sat down and dropped his stuff onto his desk. His books were a little wet but not too soggy, they should survive the semester still assuming he didn’t go around dropping them all the time.

He brought a hand over his face and slowly dragged it down, feeling his cheeks warm up. _How_ _embarrassing_.

That guy had been _real_ cute too.

Oh well, at least they would never see each other again. In a week or so Judai would be able to forget about this experience and hopefully learn not to underestimate the weather and to watch where he was going next time so he didn’t make it a habit of crashing into people.

So of course, two days later, he saw his friend Asuka walking out of her class with someone. And that someone was a very familiar guy with blue hair and a sunny smile.

Judai’s heart skipped another beat.

 _Oh_.

* * *

 “I want you to tell me what you know about Johan,” Judai said in lieu of a greeting as he dropped his backpack onto the table in front of him.

Asuka merely stared at him blankly, slurping up her ramen. “What.” She wasn’t all that used to eating lunch with someone considering they all had different schedules this semester. It was nice sometimes. Judai rarely had lunch with her on Wednesdays because he only had afternoon classes today and he usually arrived at campus minutes before his first class started. So he was here early today, with a purpose.

Judai grinned. “You know, Johan? Blue hair? Green eyes? In your English class?”

“Yeah, I know him but why do you?”

Judai looked sheepish. “Well I kinda bumped into him the other day but then I saw you two walking together after class. I stared at him for so long I walked right into a pole.” Asuka snorted but Judai continued, “Anyway, after Edo finished laughing at me he told me his name was Johan and you two have done a group project together.”

Asuka nodded, swirling her ramen around in the bowl. She normally got pizza but today she changed things up. “We were in a group of five last week and he was the only one I didn’t want to kill. He’s very nice.”

“Yeah,” Judai stared off into space, a brief smitten look running across his face.

Asuka smirked at him, “Did the pretty boy steal your heart?”

“ _Yes_ ,” Judai whined, slumping forward so he could lay his face on the cold table.

The beautiful blonde felt no sympathy as she finished up her ramen while thinking about her classmate. “I think you two would get along great,” she paused, “want me to introduce you two?”

Judai’s head immediately shot up from the table. “Yes.”

“Then come with me to my next class.”

Judai agreed since he was on break for a couple hours. The two spent the next twenty minutes talking about their assignments and how their professors were this semester.

“My poly-sci professor has never kept us in for longer than thirty minutes. No one ever skips because he always lets us out early.” Judai told her, taking one of the cookies Asuka offered him from a clear plastic bag. “Guess it works out for everyone. These cookies are delicious by the way, where did you get them?”

“Professors usually don’t want to be here anymore than we do.” Asuka gave him a sly smile. “And Johan made them.”

Judai choked on the cookie. “He bakes? Why did he give you cookies?”

“Yes, he said he stress bakes and when we had to present yesterday he admitted he stayed up most of the night baking and brought these big bags for our group. I thought one guy in the group was going to propose to him on the spot.”

“He’s _so_ cute,” Judai whined, finishing the cookie. He made grabby motions for the bag but Asuka pulled it away.

“You can get some from him later, these are all for me now.”

She threw out her trash and gathered her things, taking a tiny bit of pity and giving Judai another cookie. They really were delicious; each bite was a taste of heaven. They walked across campus towards her next class, one of her English classes and the one she shared with Johan as they talked about their expectations for midterms.

“I’m not ready,” Judai complained. “I don’t even have any scantrons on me.”

“What about bluebooks?”

He scratched the back of his neck looking sheepish. “Nope.”

Asuka shook her head. "You’re completely unprepared.”

“Uh-huh,” but he wasn’t paying attention, he was looking around as they walked, wondering if he’d spot that shock of blue hair again. Asuka noticed him looking and just smiled. But after standing outside her classroom for another fifteen minutes and no sign of Johan, Judai frowned.

“Does he skip often?”

Asuka shook her head. “He’s probably just late? It’s weird though, because he’s usually early.”

They had only a couple minutes before Asuka’s class started and they waited, watching some of her classmates walk in, then her professor with just a minute left before class started.

Asuka frowned apologetically, opening the door while looking at Judai. “Maybe he’s skipping today.”

Judai shrugged. “I’m sure I’ll see him another day. I hope he’s doing ok.” He smiled at her, “Thanks for hanging out with me, have a fun class.”

Asuka nearly scoffed but was aware that her professor was nearby, she nodded instead. “I’ll text you later.”

He waved goodbye and ended up walking off a few minutes later, a little disappointed, a little bit hoping that the universe didn’t want to keep them apart after he missed his chance last week. He walked back across campus towards his next building, figuring he could wait there for another hour until his class started when his phone vibrated in his pocket.

It was a text from Asuka (who wasn’t a fan of texting in class but she was super careful when she did.)

— _Hey, if you’d stayed a few minutes you’d have seen him, he came in late because of traffic._ —

Judai groaned. He _had_ stayed a couple extra minutes. It seems the universe was a little miffed he’d messed up his first chance with Johan.

* * *

 Naturally, two weeks later, Judai was hopping into his car after a long day of classes, with not one but two exams—and they weren’t even midterms—so now he was exhausted. He wasn’t all that big a fan on driving but his parents had given him their old car and he appreciated how lucky he was.

If only he’d been able to appreciate bumping into Johan.

Judai rested his forehead against the steering wheel. He tried two more times walking Asuka to class and both times Johan was mysteriously late but would appear in class moments after Judai left. The two other times Judai didn’t walk Asuka to class of course Johan was already there, laughing and talking with a classmate.

“Come on universe, cut me some slack.”

Judai sighed, lifting his head up. He turned on the ignition, shifted gears and started driving, checking to make sure no one was in front of him as he pulled out of his parking spot.

So of course, _of course_ , when Judai moves his gaze to the side he immediately slams on the breaks because _holy shit he nearly hit Johan that just appeared out of nowhere, running down the parking lot._

Johan didn’t even notice, too busy running while talking on the phone, blue hair bouncing as he ran. He was dressed in a soft-looking violet oversized sweater and what looked to be yoga pants underneath. He looked excited about something and that was good because he totally didn’t notice that Judai could have quite possibly hit him with his car in the middle of the north parking lot.

Judai’s jaw dropped, watching Johan run until he disappeared between a row of parked cars.

He closed his eyes, complaining, “Universe, that’s _not_ what I meant.”

* * *

 Judai unfortunately noticed that Johan had a penchant for running.

The next time he saw him, Johan was running across campus while holding onto a big box of something, expertly dodging people in his way. Judai was walking out of his history class, at the top of some small stairs, just five steps high.

He’d had an essay due today and he’d stayed up most of the night finishing it because he may or may not have forgotten about it for a week so he was dead tired; a long yawn escaping him. He stretched, reaching up high, then rubbing his eyes when he finished. This was his last class of the day and that meant he could finally go home.

He was in the midst of taking his first step down the otherwise empty stairs that he saw that shock of blue hair in his peripheral vision.

Chocolate brown eyes followed the blue haired boy with a big grin and a bigger box as he made his way in front of the building and past it.

Yes, Judai knew he was being a little creepy like this but he couldn’t really help it since the universe seemed so adamant that he and Johan not meet again. Even Edo hadn’t been of any help because he’d only had Johan in a class last semester so there wasn’t a good reason for them to meet up this semester. Asuka had suggested giving him Johan’s phone number but Judai didn’t want to come across as stalkerish and that seemed like something a stalker would do.

Johan probably didn’t even know he existed, or if he did it was only a vague memory of that one guy who ran into him in the rainy day that one time.

He watched until Johan went out of sight—seriously how did he avoid running into anybody, especially with the top of the box partially obscuring his vision like that? Maybe he was lucky? Maybe the universe decided to give him all the luck Judai didn’t have.

Instead of wallowing in self-pity, Judai slipped on the first step of the stairs and slid down the rest of the way, landing on his butt at the bottom of the steps.

He was, thankfully, alone, but his face burned hot because not only did that hurt but it was super embarrassing.

At least Johan hadn’t seen it.

Judai stood up with a groan, dusting off his pants and checking to make sure he didn’t drop anything important.

He was starting to think the universe was getting its kicks with him.

He shot Asuka a text: _I think Johan might end up being the death of me_.

She replied with: ???

She sent a bunch of laughing emojis after Judai told her what just happened.

* * *

 Another week after that, Judai still hadn’t had any luck seeing Johan again. Actually, he had, just passing glances as he watched that blue hair walk across campus with someone or a group of friends. Judai wasn’t ever considered shy but he couldn’t just go up to Johan out of nowhere and tell him he’s beautiful. And a great baker.

Judai winced. Yup, a great second impression: a creepy one.

He was trying to find a parking spot—harder than people thought, with their college over capacity and _no room for everyone’s cars_ —while paying better attention not to run anyone over this time. Not that he wasn’t already extra careful but he’d been pretty distracted this semester so far. And it was coming to an end. Asuka tried to get him and Johan in the same place at the same time twice more but something always happened—either her older brother appeared out of nowhere and took the two of them away or Johan helped a little boy find his lost bunny in the neighborhood nearby.

Judai had been simultaneously crushed and even more gone on him because how could someone be so cute?

He found a spot and just as he was getting out, he saw a white car drive by him and inside, Johan. Obviously.

Judai’s heart skipped a beat but then his face fell when he saw that Johan was making his way off campus. He texted Asuka if anything happened with her class and she replied that it had gotten cancelled and Johan had a volunteer thing he could start early if he left now.

Judai sighed. He kicked a rock in his path, following it after every light push.

He didn’t expect himself to be like this in his first year of college; he hoped it wasn’t a sign for how the rest of his college life would be.

* * *

 “Has Asuka gotten you two to meet yet?” Edo asked right when he dropped himself into the open spot beside Judai on the bench outside the museum on campus.

Judai jumped, eyeing him warily, the textbook open on his lap laying forgotten, even though it had been at least ten minutes since the last time he had absorbed anything from the text. “No, why? How do you even know about this?”

Edo looked smug but that was default expression most of the time. “I’ve been invested since you walked into the pole. Asuka wasn’t any help so now I’m going to help you.”

“And what will you get out of this?” It wasn’t that Judai didn’t trust him, it was that Edo usually didn’t like to meddle with people’s affairs, instead preferring to just watch the madness happen.

“The satisfaction of knowing that you owe me your happiness.”

Judai raised a brow. “That’s a bit much, don’t you think?”

“Fine then, just buy me lunch.”

“Fine.”

“Great. I happen to know that Johan spends some time in the library before his first class today, so why not go and accidentally bump into him?”

Judai thought back to how he already did that and it’s what started this whole mess but he shrugged. Not like he had anything more to lose at this point. “Alright, let’s go.”

“You didn’t tell me he was on the fifth floor,” Judai grumbled as he stood in front of the elevator in the library, waiting for it to come down.

There were stairs they could use but five flights of stairs this early in the morning just didn’t sound like fun. But the elevator was sketchy at best and would often break down.

Edo rolled his eyes, tapping away at his phone and not looking at him. “Come on, what’s the worst that’ll happen?”

Judai opened his mouth to say, _I don’t think you should tempt the universe_ , but he stopped, shaking his head. Maybe today would finally be the day he could have a proper conversation with Johan.

They walked into the elevator when it reached them and they were the only two who were in it. Edo pushed the button for the fifth floor and they watched the doors close.

So yes, exactly what Judai thought would happen, happened.

No, he didn’t get to see Johan.

Why?

Because the elevator stopped between the third and fourth floor and the doors wouldn’t open.

Edo couldn’t believe this had happened—he constantly went up to the fifth floor to study in the library and this was the first time he’d gotten stuck. And with Judai. And now they were stuck here until someone came to fix the elevator.

“Are you cursed?” Edo had to ask, because Judai had mentioned a couple of the incidents or near incidents he’d had whenever Johan was around. “Is Johan cursed?”

Judai rested against the back of the elevator and let himself slide down the wall, until he sat on the ground, pulling out his textbook. “I think it’s me, I’d avoid elevators with me for a while.”

"You could’ve told me sooner, we could’ve taken the stairs!” Edo crossed his arms over his chest, pushing the help button on the panel a bunch of times.

Judai snorted. “You’re the one tempting fate.”

Edo resigned himself and sat down, leaning against an adjacent wall. “Maybe you should give up.”

Judai frowned at him, looking up from his textbook. “I don’t want to.”

“But why? Like yeah, Johan’s nice and he’s very pretty, but so are most of the people on campus.”

Judai closed the textbook and sighed, leaning his head back against the wall. “I don’t know, there’s something about him.” He smiled sheepishly, “all it took was one smile and I was a goner.”

Edo’s dark blue eyes softened. “But what if it wasn’t love at first sight for him too?”

“There’s this magical thing called friendship too, y’know.” Judai’s smile turned fond. “I’ll be happy either way.”

“You’ve got it bad.”

“I do.”

It took another half hour for them to be let out of the elevator at last and Johan was nowhere to be seen because he was already in his class.

Judai swore never to set foot in that elevator again.

* * *

 It was the last week of the semester also known as hell week. The professors sometimes said study week was hell week but those finals really brought people too close to the void than they were comfortable with for it be anything other than hell.

And as had become habit, Judai was running late for his last final of the semester.

He had two bluebooks clutched in his hands as he ran across campus—how was he supposed to know that parking would be absolute hell on finals? He assumed it would be easier to find parking given that everyone had scattered exam times but _no_ , of course wasn’t that lucky.

Asuka and Edo were already done for the semester since Wednesday so they weren’t on campus today.

Asuka told him she and Johan were going to have another class together next semester so there was still a chance. Edo texted him the same thing. The three were actually going to be in the same class.

Well lucky them, getting to be around Johan’s smiles and sweets.

No, he wasn’t bitter that the universe was being ridiculous about him not being able to meet Johan again.

Maybe just a bit.

He narrowly dodged another student who was running in the opposite direction he was.

College was too hard. He seriously considered taking a year or forever off and just travelling for the rest of his life.

It was as he was contemplating his entire future while he ran for a class where he only had a minute or so to spare that he turned a corner.

And ran right into someone, sending them both to the ground—just like what happened at the start of the semester.

“Oh man, I’m so sorry,” Judai already began, picking up one of his bluebooks.

He didn’t look up at the person he ran into until he reached for his other bluebook at the same time the other person did.

“Oh, it’s you again, we’ve got to stop meeting like this,” and there it was, that sunshine smile again. Johan picked up Judai’s blue book and handed it to him. Judai look it, at a loss for words.

No no no! The same thing was happening again! He couldn’t be late for his exam but here was the universe, finally taking pity on him and he couldn’t even talk.

Johan’s smile didn’t drop as he opened a container in front of Judai, neither making a move to get off the ground. “Want some cookies? I made too many last night because I was up stressing about my final.”

“Yes,” Judai immediately replied, not waiting for his brain to catch up with his mouth. “Yes, I would love some but I’m running late for class.”

Johan chuckled. “Then here,” he handed him the now closed container. “Take all of them.”

"But, I can’t take them all,” what was Judai doing, rejecting him?!

Johan waved away his concerns. This time, since the end of the semester brought them closer to summer, he was in a black and white crop top and Judai was _weak_. "You’re friends with Asuka, right? I’ve seen you two walking around sometimes.”

"You have?” Judai watched Johan stand up, reaching a hand out to him. Judai took it, a warmth flowing through him. He wondered if it felt the same for Johan.

Johan nodded. “Kept trying to say hi but wasn’t lucky enough to see you.” He grinned. “Funny how that worked out, huh?”

Judai couldn’t help but nod. Where could he start? Should he ask for his number? Ask how often he stress baked and if he wouldn’t mind sharing all his leftovers with him? Ask if they could meet up?

Why were they still holding hands?

Johan glanced at his watch and frowned at Judai. “Oh, aren’t you running late?”

“Ohmygod.” Judai made sure he had a good grip on the bluebooks and on the container under one his arm. He held a hand out. “I’m Judai.”

Johan laughed and Judai’s heart skipped a beat again. Maybe Johan really was going to be the death of him at the rate he was going. He took Judai’s outstretched hand. “I’m Johan.” They kept holding hands. “I’d say it feels like this isn’t the first time we’ve met, but I think you knew that.” He winked at him and if Judai wasn’t two seconds from running to his exam his knees would’ve gone weak. “Tell Asuka to give you my number, we should meet up sometime.”

Judai grinned. “I’d like that.”

“Awesome,” he started walking away, with a wave and a smile. “Good luck on your test! I hope you like cinnamon roll sugar cookies!”

He did.  

They were his favorite.

And somehow, he felt that Johan knew that. Maybe he wasn’t the only one who felt something at their first meeting.

Judai grinned and waved back before taking off. “Thanks!”

So he was a tiny bit late for his exam but he was able to finish it with plenty of time in the end. And he had these delicious cookies to celebrate ending the semester at last. And best of all, he and Johan finally got to meet. And talk. And they held hands.

As Judai bit into the first cookie—there were a good handful in the container, Judai felt _so_ lucky—he savored the sweet taste and thought back to Johan. He immediately pulled out his phone and told Asuka to send him Johan’s number. And told her that Johan really does bake the best sweets ever.

When Asuka sent Johan’s number along with some exclamation points and happy emojis, Judai grinned.

Sometimes the universe wanted to mess with people, but it sure did work hard to bring two people together eventually.

**Author's Note:**

> Back with another spiritshipping fic! I just love them too much, there needs to be more fics and if I have to write them then so be it lol  
> Will I ever stop writing college AUs? No because they're so fun lol  
> I also like writing fluff so I hope this came out a little fluffy. I just wanted Judai pining after the pretty boy who stress bakes <3 lol  
> Come find me at [twitter](https://twitter.com/gummyrubi) or on [tumblr](https://chocomonki.tumblr.com) to talk spiritshipping with me! :D


End file.
